Paper Republic began very simply, as a group blog run by translators
of Chinese literature into English. It was 2007 and four or five of us
had found each other in Beijing, and formed a sort of mutual support
group/social club. Mostly we wrote about books we were reading and
authors we liked, or posted translation samples.

As time passed, we gradually got to know more translators, and the
group grew. At the same time realized that people outside China –
students, publishers, journalists, readers – were using the site to
learn about Chinese books and writers.

Since then we’ve gradually shifted the focus of the site towards
providing information about Chinese literature to people in
English-speaking countries. Over the years this has included many
different activities: posting reviews and commentaries on books,
maintaining a database of translations, editing a journal of
translated literature, publishing translations online, running
reader-focused public events, consulting for publishing houses
interested in Chinese books, and even planning literary festivals and
publishing fellowships. A broad group of translators participate,
pitching in with editorial and promotion activities, from various
locations around the world.

In a sense, all we wanted was to be able to translate the books we
love, and to see those books published and read. Over time we realized
that the single greatest obstacle to that goal was a lack of
information about Chinese literature among publishers and readers
abroad. Nearly all of what we do is aimed at filling that lack: by
providing context and background on China’s various authors and their
works, and in many cases by making those works available to read
directly.

Our main projects now consist of maintaining a database of Chinese literature and translation online, producing a literary journal called Pathlight magazine, and publishing short translations to read online. Starting in 2017, we'll also be working directly with publishers in English-speaking countries to publish book-length translations.

We’re very pleased to be participating in the Global Literature in
Libraries Initiative. As much as anything else we do, it’s a perfect
fit for our most important goals: to help readers around the world
appreciate what Chinese books have to offer.